Beyond The Call of Duty
by ScribeAnimal
Summary: You see Animal with the "blue button" (Medal of Honor). This is the incident that earned him the Medal. Over the skies of North Korea, a TARPS F-14 goes down necessitating a rescue that the Deputy Air Wing Commander objects to. The CAG thinks its dangerous but orders a rescue. JAG Investigation into Animal's MOH eligibility started by RADM Chegwidden.
1. Chapter 1

"Beyond The Call of Duty"

Author: Haruo Chikamori

E-mail: hhchikamori

Rating: M

Classification: K

Spoilers: N/A

Summary: You see Animal with the "blue button" (Medal of Honor). This is the incident that earned him the Medal. Over the skies of North Korea, a TARPS F-14 goes down necessitating a rescue that the Deputy Air Wing Commander objects to. The CAG thinks its dangerous but orders a rescue. An investigation into Animal's eligibility for the Medal of Honor ensues at Admiral Chegwidden's instruction.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Animal is the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori.

USS Nimitz, CVN-68

Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

Sometime in 1995

Rear Admiral (upper half) James E. Pointer III gritted his teeth as he looked over at the captain responsible for the intelligence coming from the Korean peninsula. The admiral knew that the botched information could cause the deaths of his aviators and he wasn't pleased. As it stood there would have to be another TARPS mission over the disputed area for intelligence gathering and when he was through with the captain in question, the navintel geek would be lucky to have a job left.

"Our assets are not expendable, Captain. Especially when satellite information should be gathering this intel on its passes over the peninsula. North Korea has been especially volatile and they have been moving SAMs into coastal emplacements. Now you want to send in a TARPS 'cat to find out information that your satellites MISSED?!" RADM Pointer glared at the NAVINTEL captain. "You guys have been dropping the ball from A to Z, haven't you?" Pointer would have cheerfully throttled the captain for his response.

"Well, we need the information, Admiral, and your VF-41 guys are the only ones that can do it. VF-84 is not TARPS equipped or certified."

"Well, the Joint Chiefs haven't heard the last of this yet." Pointer snarled, nose to nose with the NAVINTEL four-striper geek. "You'd better hope I get all my planes back or your career in Naval Intelligence is going to go head-first down the crapper! You two-bit NAVINTEL weenie!" Even more infuriating to Admiral Pointer was that the 'NavIntel Weenie' didn't look fazed one iota. Not even at the fact that Admiral Pointer would make good on his threat. Either the NavIntel O-6 had balls of steel or he was just terminally stupid. You don't piss off an O-8 and expect good things to happen to your career.

VF-41 Black Aces Wardroom

"Hey, Animal. CAG and Mini-CAG want you in the flag plot. Evidently something big's going down." Lieutenant Commander Jimmy "Spike" Wilson grinned as he peered in the wardroom looking for Animal. "Orders?"

"Who knows." Toshio "Animal" Nakamura gave off the ensign-salute as if to say _I don't know what the hell's going on._ "It's above my paygrade." He got up out of the lounger and straightened up his zoomie bag patting it down so it looked passable. His VF-41 squadron patch was emblazoned over the right breast pocket of his flight suit which he was wearing which was UOD onboard a carrier for flight crews. The VF-243 Howlers (Harm's squadron) had copied the playing card right down to the clubs insignia on it. But Animal was a part of the original Black Aces squadron (the one with actual Su-22 kills after the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1981) after a stint with the Howlers over Iraq for Desert Storm. Animal was a Lieutenant Commander and as an O-4 he was well versed on military procedure. The 'want' was not a casual request, it was an order emanating from up above. Considering the pay grade requesting his presence was two grades above his and probably higher ranking officers would be present, it would be in his best interest for the sake of his career that he hoof it up to the flag plot and find out what was _requested_ of him. Animal amscrayed out the wardroom door and headed up the stairs of the tower to the flag plot.

Pounding the pine, he paused until the answering voice called out "ENTER!" he made his appearance and announcement. "Lieutenant Commander Toshio Nakamura, reporting as ordered, sir." Looking over to see a fellow Lieutenant Commander also standing at the position of attention - Lieutenant Commander Bill "Friar" Tuck didn't even look over at him, Animal stood at attention too, his eyes gathering in the information and seeing stars – two sets of them totalling six stars counting collar devices to be exact. The battle group commander – a two-star and the vice-battle group commander, a commodore (at sea) ranked rear admiral lower half (on shore) – a one star. Combined with the gathered silver oak leaves and eagles in the flag plot, it was a scary experience to see all those high-ranking officers contained in one room with their attentions focused on his and Friar's O-4 carcasses.

"Lieutenant Commander Tuck, we would like you to fly the TARPS aircraft as you have the most experience in that bird." RADM Pointer said. "Lieutenant Commander Nakamura, you fly cover for the TARPS. We need a recon of the North Korean coastline from Kimchaek down to Hongwon, the area that the cameras on the Block III malfunctioned. It will be at least a month before they can get an emergency shuttle up to replace the cameras on the satellite and the operation cameras will have to be tweaked from the ground to re-image the area on the next pass. I presume, Captain, that your guys at Houston are already on that matter so this is the only flight we have to do." The captain nodded and Admiral Pointer looked over at Animal and Friar "So, are you two up to flying this mission? It's strictly voluntary as it's inordinately dangerous."

"Aye, aye, sir." Animal responded, trepidation coloring his voice. He knew this wasn't a milk-run and that they'd have to have their heads on a swivel. SAMS in the area had been rumored and it wasn't above a SAM missile site to lob one up if they thought an aircraft was in the area.

"Now this is a dangerous mission – namely because the NAVINTEL geeks fucked up." Rear Admiral Pointer said damningly shooting a glare at the NAVINTEL _limited line duty_ officer, a captain, it seemed, who hadn't the self-awareness to be embarrassed.

The Operations Officer, Commander Jason "Rattler" Teague, disgust in his voice, muttered caustically that "Expect there to be SAMs in the area. The satellite that went over the peninsula malfunctioned due to some surface mistake at the operations level. Hence the reason why we're flying this mission so that there isn't a gap in the information sent out to battle groups in the area."

The briefing went on for a long time given the hours old information that hadn't been updated yet. Due to the lack of information about the air defences in the area, Animal and Friar were going in cold. It wasn't a good start to a day, Animal thought to himself as he looked over at Friar. When they were dismissed, Animal went over to the squadron ops officer to formulate out a plan for the mission that they had three hours prior to commencing. Telling the ops officer, he wanted every damned missile that he could possibly stack on his aircraft. Animal's load-out was the 4× AIM-9 + 4× AIM-7 configuration. For Friar's load-out, Animal requested "COMBAT TARPS" despite the fact that they weren't technically at war – It gave Friar 2x AIM-9 + 2x AIM-7 plus an ALQ-167 "Bullwinkle" jammer and the TARPS pod. The more missiles they had, the better just in case the North Korean People's Air Force came up to play. Better than leaving Friar's aircraft as a sitting target during air-to-air.

Lieutenant Commander Joe "Scooter" Willis grinned at Animal as they started gearing up for the mission. "Ah hell, who lives forever, eh?"

"I'd like to live just a little while longer." Lieutenant Mitchell "King" Richard muttered. He was Friar's RIO and made no bones about the fact that this mission was thanks to NAVINTEL. "If I get my ass shot down and make it back, I'm going to find that NAVINTEL puke and kick his nuts into his throat." He complained.

Animal kept silent, but agreed with King that the NavIntel puke needed a major league beating. Grabbing his HGU-55/P flight helmet and fastening it to his head, he and Scooter headed for their F-14A Tomcat. The piercing whine of the aircraft engines on the confined area of the flight deck was ear-splitting and hence flight-crews wore their helmets to block out the noise otherwise it was too easy to get their eardrums blown out. Pre-flight and checks were already done on the aircraft as they were set to replace the Alert 5 aircraft on Cat 3 (the waist cat) and were already stationed on the catapult. They just replaced the crew waiting in the Alert 5. The only new addition was the TARPS/ALQ-167 on the second designated TARPS aircraft that was to be going. All Animal and Scooter had to do was mount their aircraft and buckle in while Friar's and King's F-14A was towed to and attached to Cat 2 off the pointy end of the boat.

Hooking his oxygen mask to the O2 mask fittings located to either side of his flight helmet, Animal made sure that his oxygen mask fit was nice and snug; the hose being attached to the oxygen tank on board the F-14 Tomcat. The flow and mixture was right, but until the cat was ready for launch, the oxygen mask stayed to one side dangling. Animal went over the pre-flight cockpit checks checking the flight controls to make sure the rudders and flaps worked as well as the tailerons.

"This hop's gonna keep us awake, ain't it?" Scooter said sardonically.

"You betcha." Animal replied. "If they lob a SAM in our direction, we're going to be more than awake. Probably end up ejecting brown organic matter."

The plane captain and the crew had Friar's aircraft all set up. Friar evidently was launching first due to being stationed on Cat 2. Animal would be up next on the waist cat. Animal saw the plane captain salute Friar and clipped his own oxygen mask on as did Scooter. Both took a second to bring down their visors on the HGU-55/P and lock them in place. The plane captain on the number 3 cat brought his thumb up, Animal acknowledging that with a return of the same and then the plane captain saluted Animal. Animal returned the salute returning his right hand to the handles to either side of the canopy rails. Cat launch was a hands off affair because there was the danger of over-rotation of the aircraft into a stall if one kept their hands on the flight controls. The only hand on the control was the left hand pushing the throttles in to full Zone 5 afterburner, holding the throttles steady against the force pushing it back applied by the sudden acceleration from zero to 260 mph. The plane captain dropped his salute, then dropped into a crouch with his hand extended towards the end of the flight deck amidships.

The catshot was sudden, a tremendous force pushing him back against the ejection seat, nearly caging his eyeballs back in their sockets.

"Control, Fast Eagle 105, Good Cat!" Animal radioed back as he eyeballed the area for Friar. Finding Friar floating up ahead, Animal joined up on his wing. They would be photographing 75 miles of coastline. Iwon Airport was home to 44 MiG 21s and that was a concern. Also Simpo Nuclear Power Plant – they had been clearing a site for the prospective nuclear power-plant amid declarations that they intended to become a nuclear power in the next two decades. Animal was sure that there was the possibility of SAMs around the area to deter errant visitors.

All things considered though they had to tank first prior to ingress. And that was going to be fun - in the same way that getting a tooth extraction without benefit of anesthetic could be termed as fun.

25 minutes later

After tanking, the two F-14s headed towards Kimchaek, their first waypoint. Friar's position was to be fifteen miles off the coast over water with the TARPS pod camera turned inwards towards the coast. The Radar Warning Receiver went absolutely ape-shit when the F-14s were about 25 miles from the coast.

"KimChi Army's awake." Animal said to Scooter.

Friar had his hands full, King set the TARPS to start recording as they made their turn to run parallel with the coastline. Iwon Airport was going bananas from the look of activity down at the airport as they went past at over 600 knots. Pilots looked as if they were running for the MiG 21s.

"Holy shit…" Friar muttered to Animal over the UHF. "Iwon's going batshit. So how we gonna get out of this one?"

"Just press the 'I Believe' button for now and we'll see what happens." Animal muttered as they kept on course.

"That's comforting." Friar report sardonically. "We gotta make it to Hongwon intact…and hopefully back to our boat as well."

King muttered a "Hail Mary full of grace" barely audible over the UHF.

"Contacts on our five o'clock." Scooter said craning his head around to view. Evidently there were two MiG 21s on their tail. They were maneuvering to the outside of their line of direction, herding the two F-14s closer to the coast within range of their missile defenses. Until the F-14s got in range of the SA-6 Grail and SA-17 Gadfly missiles, the MiGs would try to hem the F-14s in. Animal on the other hand was having none of that. Rolling his Tomcat, he went high as Friar maintained course. Rolling the aircraft through a large rolling arc to drop airspeed as the two MiG 21s shot past below, he dropped in on the six of those two MiG 21s, activating AIM-7 missile lock on active seeker. That prompted a loud missile warning buzz in the helmet headsets of the MiG pilots who promptly decided that discretion was better than getting their asses shot off over home territory and broke off. The next missile warning was much more dangerous. The SAM missile warning light went on in the F-14 cockpit, prompting Friar and Animal to start dropping chaff while trying to keep as straight a course as they could to get the photos that Ops and NavIntel wanted.

The SA-11/17 Gadfly/Grizzly was known as the four fingers of death – brutally efficient and radar-guided, the SA-17 Grizzly was mounted four to a launcher on a tracked mobile launching mechanism. Virtually undetectable by satellites due to its mobility, it was able to be trucked in and planted anywhere then moved again to avoid detection.

As they passed what would be the future site of the Simpo Nuclear Reactor Facility, the calm exploded into sheer hell. Missile launch warnings went off in both Animal and Friar's cockpits. Animal started dropping chaff and flares to try to spoof the incoming SA-17s.

"Friar, missile launch. Evasive!" Animal shouted out as he jinked his F-14 dropping flares and chaff into a series of hard turns.

"I can't shake it." Friar said panicked, a smoke trail appeared and a proximity fuse exploded 100 meters from Friar's F-14, throwing burning fragments of metal into the F-14's fuselage severing fuel lines and hydraulics. A puff of smoke and a burning sheet of flame started trailing from Friar's F-14A Tomcat. "I'm hit…I'm hit!" Friar shouted.

"Punch out! Friar!" Animal said. The canopy came off the aircraft and King's ejection seat came out of the aircraft barely seconds before the F-14 turned into a rolling ball of flame as burning fuel met an electrical line. Friar didn't have time to get out and went up with the aircraft. The horror on the face of Scooter was disguised by the oxygen mask.

The remains of the F-14 wreckage along with the surveillance film went into the waters off the coast of North Korea as the parachute floated inland – Animal circled the chute as it went down in the mountains just south west of Simpo. King would have to evade capture by North Korean forces until such time as the Nimitz could mount a rescue operation to recover him.

"Fast Eagle 105 to Homeplate. Fast Eagle 112 is down. Need CAP and helo for rescue. King punched out, Friar didn't survive. Orbiting to make sure he lands safely on the ground."

"Negative, Fast Eagle 105 return to Homeplate." The voice of the mini-CAG sounded in his helmet radio receivers.

"Roger…" Animal's voice was tight with barely controlled rage as he turned the aircraft around. He could disobey an order and end up being exonerated if it went to court but he knew the Mini-CAG was a vindictive son-of-a bitch and could make rising the ranks hell if he went ahead and did that. Animal's only option was to return to the Nimitz and hope to hell that he could convince the admiral to sanction a rescue mission. With that in mind, he shut off the radio, let loose a vicious "FUCK!" on the inter-cockpit radio system and turned his F-14 back to home, with the niggling feeling in the back of his mind saying that he was wrong in doing so. Courage of conviction…sucked if there was a vindictive senior officer on board. No wonder they called the DCAG the Mini-CAG. He had an attitude like the Emperor though of diminutive stature. Like a 5'2" Chihuahua, the Mini-CAG had an attitude that was more vicious bark than bite and never failed to try to use every possible advantage to screw his junior officers out of promotions.

"When we get back." Animal warned Scooter. "Mini-CAG better not be anywhere within my sight." Leaving a fellow crewmember behind was breaking a cardinal rule and Animal was absolutely certain that he was going back to get King out. It was a toss-up as to how many arms he would have to twist or break to get that done.


	2. Chapter 2

USS Nimitz

Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

Animal trapped a good solid three-wire despite having seen his wingman go down in a rolling ball of flame. You had to compartmentalize or you would end up down at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker having had a 'helmet fire' – a situation where the aviator just gets overwhelmed in the cockpit with the number of things having to be done at one time usually with fatal consequences. And compartmentalize Animal did, concentrating on his landing approach towards the carrier. Upon successful trap and tie down though, Animal did allow his mind to wander to what Friar's RIO was probably feeling at this point.

King was on Animal's mind – right now, the RIO was probably surrounded by the North Korean Army looking for him – trying to evade patrols and potential capture. If he was captured, he'd be tortured to death – of that there was no doubt and that steeled Animal's resolve that he would do everything that he possibly could to get King out alive.

Hill 27

North Korea

King hit the ground and rolled with the impact. His chute hung in a branch, luckily only about six feet up and a few judicious tugs freed the chute. Using his hands and his pocket knife he managed to dig a deep enough hole to bury the chute and his helmet and stripping his flight suit of identity, he buried those too. Pulling out a camo pack from his survival vest, he painted his face black and green so that only his eyes showed in a sea of green and black.

The trees were thick in this area and the foliage offered good solid cover to keep away from prying North Korean patrols. King checked his survival vest finding his survival beacon radio – an AN/PRC-90-2. Considering it had only a 48 hour battery juice – he decided against activating it until he heard active search and rescue. It was against rules, but he knew that he was in hostile territory. If he activated it too soon and the battery ran out, he was as good as dead. Sticking it back in his SV-2 survival vest, he fastened the Velcro strap, locking the survival radio in place. Making sure that he had his Beretta out and in his hand gave King a measure of security in his mind. Not by much though, thoughts kept running through his mind at break-neck speed. If captured say only your name, rank, and serial number. What a crock of shit. He was in the worst possible mess that he could ever be in. He was alone, in enemy territory. All his friends were back on the carrier and he was out here in the Korean wilderness humping through territory which for all intents and purposes could harbor all sorts of NK soldiers all ready to take a piece out of him. "Aw shit!" ...he muttered under his breath. He brought his M9 up to the ready position and sprinted across the path, into the bushes on the other side of the clearing. He chose to go northwest up the mountain rather than down, looking at the compass on his watch. Knowing that patrols were in the area combing the woods, he decided the better course of action was to head for higher ground. That's where he'd be able to get a better signal out to the carrier if anyone was listening. So sprinting from cover to cover he tried to keep one step ahead of the North Korean patrols.

"pa-il-leot yeo-gi eo-din-ga-e-seo chang-nyu-kaet-sseum-ni-da. geu pae-neul chat _The pilot landed here somewhere. Fan out and search for him._" The voice farther down the mountain echoed up within King's hearing. The Korean words frightened the shit out of King and he opted to stay put and hidden for now.

USS Nimitz

Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

CAG's Office.

"That's a negative, Lieutenant Commander, we will not be sacrificing a rescue team to get Lieutenant Richard back." The DCAG stated, his diminutive frame looking smug enough that Animal wanted to bash his face in.

"So that means that you're going to abandon Lieutenant Richard to the North Koreans? Is that it, sir?" Animal spat out the honorific address as he towered over the DCAG by five and a half inches.

"The needs of the many outweigh the few." DCAG replied. Commander David "Rabbit" Campbell smugly looked over at Animal with challenge in his eyes. Animal only had an O-4's gold oak leaves, while Commander Rabbit-Shit had O-5 silver oak leaves. "It's too dangerous to risk a rescue mission especially with NK's in the area." No, Commander Rabbit wasn't rabbit-shit, he was chicken-shit. Anytime that he was on the flight-roster, he found some way to fake engine trouble especially if the mission took him close to enemy territory. The son-of-a-bitch was a no-load and dangerous at that. Animal said to himself _screw it_ and decided to take it up with CAG and if necessary, the admiral.

"After all…" Rabbit continued. "Nobody knows that I gave you the order to return to the ship…"

Animal's eyes darkened in rage. _Why that sneaky slimy son-of-a… _"You're not worth it…" Animal paused threateningly. "…sir…" Animal gritted out through clenched teeth.

About-facing, Animal exited the CAG's office and looked around in the officer's wardroom. Scooter approached. "Rabbit the same as usual." He asked expecting the answer that Animal soon provided.

"Yeah, spewing pellets." Animal growled; "Says it's too dangerous."

Scooter doubled over with laughter. "It's dangerous? Why did he join up then?"

"Let's go find CAG." Animal said. "Someway or another, if I have to bend the rules, we're getting King back."

Hill 27

North Korea

It was only a matter of time before King would be discovered. He had been sitting in one position hidden behind leaves, branches and bushes piled up for over an hour. He had seen two patrols walk by within three meters of his position. Smell could give him away. Aviators going on combat missions didn't put cologne on. That would give their position away in milliseconds. If King could get his hands on a bowl of kimchi, he'd down it to smell more like the natives. Despite the fact that it smelled like spicy rotten cabbage, he'd gratefully down it with a heaping helping of rice. But every civilian around here was an enemy. They'd turn him into the North Korean Army immediately upon sighting him. The only hope that he had was to evade and hope that the aircrews from the Nimitz were looking for him.

USS Nimitz

Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

2 Hrs later

"You betcha…" Lieutenant Sun Hap "Sunny" Kim grinned as Animal looked over at him. "Yeah, I know Korean. dang-si-neun yu-kwae-han il-bo-neo bu-ji-han un-jot hal-lae. _You're a cheerful Japanese mother-fucker._" He said with an evil grin.

"Thanks…I think." Animal retorted.

"So you need me on this rescue mission…how you gonna do that? I mean, I'm game…" Sunny grinned. "I hate the North Koreans. The bastards have my aunt and they won't let her come over to South Korea. My mother and father came over to the United States where they had me, so I'm game. We need to rescue King before he gets his sorry ass captured and tortured."

"So, that means I got your help, right, Sunny?" Animal asked already knowing what the answer was going to be. Sunny tended to help out no matter what the situation. Korean-American US military officers and enlisted were regarded with suspicion by the higher ups because of their reserved demeanor, but Sunny was as open a guy as they could want. Frankly by Korean standards, he was a party animal.

"Yeah, you got my help. I'll be translator, bullet decoy…whatever…" Sunny replied acidly. "Just make sure you bring me back alive, will ya? I'd like to stay alive if at all possible. I'm not into one of those Japanese seppuku type kamikaze style missions, OK?"

CAG came walking into the wardroom, "I hear you're looking for me, Lieutenant Commander." He said, not a smile on his face. "What did you need?"

"CAG…I had to leave King behind thanks to DCAG radioing me and telling me to return to the boat. He says nobody will corroborate that, but that's all I got for you." Animal said. "It's sitting on my craw that I left King. I wanna go back in and get him with a team."

"Shit, you don't ask for much, do you?" CAG said. "To tell you the truth, Lieutenant Commander Nakamura, I don't much like Campbell. He's a no-load, useless putz who seems to weasel his way into good fitreps and that's off the record, Sunny!" he aimed a glare at Sunny who was writing a novel based on his experiences in the Navy. Warning him CAG growled. "If you write a word of that in your book, I'm going to turn you into kimchi and send it home to your momma!" He paused, looked Animal over. "You can't not follow orders, Animal. So I don't hold it against you that you headed back to the boat. You're a lifer, just like me and you gotta think of your career. In fact, it's a plus that you're coming to me and telling me just how badly its sticking in you to have left King behind. I'd be looking at you different if you didn't. So I'm going to rubber-stamp this and take it to the admiral. Having served with him for over 6 years of my navy career, Pointer's of the same stance as me, so he'll approve it too. But just one thing, Animal. Get King back…and make sure you come back too. We need everybody returning to the boat."

It took three more hours for Animal to assemble his team of guys which included a SEAL team that was embarked onboard the USS Nimitz. Assembling an insertion team with a SH-60 Seahawk, SEAL Team 10 assembled gear. This was an off-the-record insertion of a special forces team to recover a downed fighter crewman and the three extra guys that were going in to help were also combat aviators/RIOs. Sunny was a fighter pilot as well flying F/A-18Cs off the Nimitz with the VFA-87 Golden Warriors. He did get a lot of ribbing as a Hornet puke. He would be going as the team translator. Scooter was just more muscle and as a crack shot who had a pistol and rifle expert ribbon, he was able to provide cover-fire.

It was another hour and half planning for the mission before they were able to wheels-up and depart from the carrier deck. Halfway to feet-dry, they refuelled with an S-3 Viking.

Hill 27

North Korea

When King thought he was absolutely clear, he broke cover, M9 in his hand, and sprinted for the next grove of trees. There were no huts, nothing where he could seek shelter. Looking at his PPS (Precise Positioning System) indicator, he noted that he was at 40° 5.605', 128° 19.268' South Hamgyong. Looking down he could see hamlets but he knew that heading for there would be a death sentence. Hungry, tired and frightened, he kept a sharp look out. The sun was going down and he would be having to hole up somewhere to conserve his energy.

It was cold, the shadows in the trees amidst the mist rising off the damp ground made King shiver. The shadows weren't doing his psyche any good either making him start at snapping noises as he kept alert watching for North Korean patrols. _It's been six or seven hours._ King estimated to himself. His watch had been damaged by the ejection and had stopped working so he had been estimating the time. He pulled out the AN/PRQ-90 and switched the dial to TRANSMIT.

SH-60 Blackhawk.

40° 5.272', 128° 21.824'

A transmit light went on on the receiver. "We got a track on our lost lamb." One of the SEALs grinned up at Animal who had both hands gripping the M4-A1 Carbine. "40° 5.605', 128° 19.268' and moving north west up the hill. He's a fast mover, Commander!"

"Yeah, I'm glad we got a bead on him. It'll make it easier to find him now. But it'll make it easier for the N. Koreans to track him too." Animal replied.

"Feet Dry in 2 minutes. Pedal to the metal." The SH-60 aviator turned his head around to look over at Animal. I presume you guys are fast-roping down. "Coordinates for rendezvous at an area with an LZ is here - +40°5'36.30", +128°19'16.08". We got too many to rope-ladder this, otherwise we're sitting ducks – we'd be hanging in the air too long. We're going to insert you guys in and then we'll proceed back feet-wet, tank then head for the rendezvous point."

"Roger that, Commander." Animal shouted back. "We'll see you there. Extra carbine?" Animal turned to Scooter.

"Hooked on my harness." Scooter replied.

"Approaching 40° 5.605', 128° 19.268' – ready to fast-rope down." The SEAL commander grinned.

"Who's fucking bright idea was this?" Sunny complained. "I've never done this shit before!" Animal looked at him and uttered:

"Guilty as charged. Look at it this way, Sunny…you learn something new EVERY DAY!" Sunny's response was a middle-finger. The SH-60's blades were muted to reduce noise…but it still was pretty damned loud in the cabin.

"Let's go!" bellowed the SEAL commander as he grabbed the rope with both hands and disappeared out the door. In about 15 seconds, the entire SH-60 emptied as Sunny looked at Animal with a venomous expression and said. "Ah…SHIT!" as he headed out the door. The harness clipped onto the fast-rope and provided a minimal bit of security so that one didn't go flying off the rope. It was the hands that helped to slow the descent down so that one didn't break ankles at the bottom. Animal was the last one out the door.

"Catch you on the flip side." He said to the pilot on the way out.

When they hit the ground and rolled, releasing themselves from the rope, the SH-60 pulled up, while gathering the ropes back into the cabin and headed back out feet-wet. The SEALs had arranged themselves in a defensive perimeter, weapons at the ready.

"Take a new reading." Animal snapped out.

"+40°5'36.30", +128°19'16.08". He's moving east up the mountain. Let's rendezvous with him."

Hill 27

+40°5'36.30", +128°19'16.08"

King didn't think that he was hearing correctly, he heard English voices. _It must be a trick_. Pulling his M9 out and keeping it at the ready, he kept a steady eye out at the path that he had come up.

Seeing US Military fatigues in the heavily armed group that he had seen coming up the hill towards him, he grinned. "Geez, it's about time you guys showed up." He looked over at the three familiar faces who peered at him. "Sunny, you came too?"

"Yeah…Animal dragooned me into doing this. Remind me never to jump out of a helicopter again for the rest of my life." Sunny grumbled.

"mi-gu-gin-deul. i-sseo! _Americans…there they are!_"

"Oh, shit…" Sunny shouted. "We got company. Take cover!"

The American special forces group and the three aviator tag-alongs dove behind cover as a whole company of North Koreans poured into the forested area opening fire with Type 57s – a North Korean copy of the AK-47. The SEAL Team opened fire with their M4 Carbines sending a blizzard of 5.56x45 NATO rounds at full automatic down the hill cutting down North Korean troops. This wasn't a situation that they had envisioned in their plans, but the SEALs adapted, as did the aviators.

King's mind was going a mile a minute. First good news…he was rescued. Now really bad news, they had North Korean visitors and not the friendly type either – _shoot first ask questions later_ seemed to be the North Korean motto.

Animal picked his shots – head shots that dropped the N. Koreans in their tracks. Single fire and pinpoint accuracy. Scooter while picking off North Koreans turned to Animal and said. "We gotta get to the LZ. Head west." Firing off another two rounds dropping two more North Koreans, Scooter looked at his compass picking a direction and pointed. "That way." Firing another two rounds to keep the heads down of the North Koreans in the midst of the firefight, they started crouch walking the direction in which Scooter had pointed. The SEALs withdrew towards the LZ…firing rounds to keep the North Koreans down.

"Animal, you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be with you guys in a bit." Animal said as he fired another magazine of 5.56x45 ammunition at the North Koreans.

As the SEALs withdrew, Scooter coordinated with the SEAL commander, "LZ's at +40°5'36.30", +128°19'16.08". We'll keep heading that direction, till we see the helo at the extraction point." The SEAL commander nodded an affirmative, took a compass reading and ordered his men to extract to that location.

Animal was continuing to fire covering their retreat up the ridge line, dropping NKs left right and center. Scooter didn't know if Animal was wounded or not, but he hollered. "Animal! WE need to leave!"

Dropping 2 more North Koreans, Animal retreated, taking cover, putting a few more shots on the NKs as he came towards them. Scooter and the SEAL commander kept up heavy fire covering Animal's retreat.

As Animal approached, Scooter could see that Animal's shoulder was bleeding. He had taken two AK rounds through the left shoulder, just missing the cephalic vein. It was a slow bleeder so it wasn't a life-threatening wound unless Animal didn't make it back to the carrier. Animal was in pain, but he gritted his teeth and turned and fired back at the North Koreans. "Get back, I'll cover you and we'll do this retreat in stages." He snapped out.

"You're hit." Scooter and the SEAL commander said practically in unison. "We need to get you to the helo."

"Never mind." Animal snapped. "If we all turn and run, they'll cut us down. I'll cover fire and you guys head for the helo." Then you can cover my ass when I make a run. Now MOVE!"

There was no time for argument as North Korean rounds started slapping into the trees around them.

"Helo extract inbound in zero five." Came the call over the radio.

"C'mon, Scooter MOVE!" Animal yelled as he fired three more bursts to keep the heads down of the North Koreans. Scooter turned and ran along with the SEAL commander as per Animal's orders.

Hill 27

+40°5'36.30", +128°19'16.08"

Scooter saw the SH-60 flare for a landing, as King and the rest of the SEAL team joined up.

"Where's Animal?" King asked Scooter.

"The guy's shooting North Koreans." Scooter responded as he shot a look at King.

"Insane motherfucker." Sunny said incredulously. "He's not leaving?"

"No he's coming over but he was covering our retreat." Scooter replied looking up worriedly at the mountain. "Let's get everybody on board. Man the GAU-17/A!"

"I see him." The SEAL team commander replied. "Cover him with the minigun!"

Animal ran for the helo and dove for the interior as NK 7.62 rounds slapped around the fuselage of the SH-60. Overhead three F/A-18Cs from Sunny's squadron laid down some Mk. 77 incendiaries along the treeline as the SH-60 got airborne.

Sunny muttered to Animal as he examined Animal's torn up left shoulder which was still bleeding slowly. "You are one insane son-of-a bitch. Animal." Now that the adrenaline was wearing off due to being safely onboard the SH-60, it was starting hurt like a bitch.

"Tell me about it…" Animal muttered back. "I didn't feel like spending the rest of my short life in a North Korean prison being force fed kimchi."

King turned to Animal. "Thanks, bud for coming back." He said in a heartfelt tone of voice as he stuck his right hand out to Animal's right hand to shake it.

"Couldn't live with myself if I left you out there. Pal." Animal grinned back painfully. "Though the shot shoulder made me think twice though." Then he leaned forward, gritting his teeth and said to the pilot. "Send a brief message back to the boat – _Mission accomplished. Package retrieved. Love and kisses to DCAG_" Animal recited, dripping sarcasm mixed with pain from his injuries mixed in. Patting the pilot on the shoulder with his good hand. "Let's go home!"

"Aye…that…sir!" The Lieutenant grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

USS Nimitz,

CAG's Office.

The CAG, Captain Cliff "Tree" Forster looked over at Commander David "Rabbit" Campbell as the commander blustered. "Did you see this transmission…" Rabbit spluttered. "Not only does he disobey my orders on going back into N. Korea, he sends this. _Mission Accomplished. Package Retrieved. Love and kisses to DCAG_". That is outright disrespect to a senior officer. I want him on an Article 89 charge. In fact I'm drawing one up right now!"

"You know, Rabbit, you really piss me off sometimes." Tree looked over at Rabbit with absolute contempt. "You were about to leave one of our men in N. Korea just to save your sorry ass. I should use my O-6 to stomp your sorry ass into the ground. I know you only got your O-5 because you were a kiss-butt. I don't know how you became my DCAG, because I sure as hell didn't ask for you. I got stuck with your sorry ass."

RADM Pointer came stomping into the CAG's office. "Is this the reprobate who wanted to leave one of my aviators to rot on top of a hill in North Korea?" Pointer was livid, his veins stuck on his face and he jammed his face in Rabbit's face. "You little puny piece of shit! I should mop the floor with your face. You say that no-one knows what you said to Nakamura over the UHF?" He waved a tape in front of Rabbit's face. "I got it right here."

"FLIGHT DECK PERSONNEL…SH-60 RECOVERING, WOUNDED ON BOARD…CLEAR THE DECK!" The announcement on the 1-MC sounded.

"Tree, we're going down to the flight deck to meet up with Nakamura and SEAL Team 10." Pointer said. "You too, Commander Campbell and you are going to apologize to Nakamura's face. I'm damned tempted to battle-field promote Nakamura to O-5 and look the other way so he can punch your goddamned lights out!"

"But sir…" Rabbit started to whine but shut up quickly as Pointer levelled a deadly look at him.

"SHUT UP! Campbell or I swear to God, I'll knock your sorry ass out myself!" Pointer turned around and walked out of the CAG's office. Tree gave Rabbit a disgusted look too and walked out of the office. Rabbit had no choice but to follow.

Flight Deck

USS Nimitz

The SH-60 settled on the flight deck and the crew members stepped out as the doors opened on the helo's compartment. An officer in woodland fatigues stepped out, his right hand holding a pressure bandage to his left shoulder which Admiral Pointer could see looked as if it was covered in red paint (blood) – it was Animal. Stepping up to RADM Pointer he said. "Lieutenant Commander Nakamura reporting. Mission accomplished, sir."

"Good work. You need to get that shoulder looked at, Lieutenant Commander."

"Lieutenant Commander James, SEAL Team 10, sir. Permission to speak frankly, sir, in private. I would like to issue a award recommendation to Lieutenant Commander Nakamura. Without his efforts, we wouldn't have gotten out alive. We took heavy fire from North Korean ground forces as evidenced from the wounds sustained by Commander Nakamura."

"Alright, Lieutenant Commander James, meet me in my office in 10 minutes on the flag plot. You…Lieutenant Commander Nakamura. To the corpsman's office NOW!" RADM Pointer snapped as he noticed Animal was lingering making sure that everybody on the mission crew was accounted for, barely covering his discomfort and pain from his wound through gritted teeth

"Yes, sir!" Animal snapped to and ran for the tower.

USS Nimitz

Onboard Hospital

"Lieutenant Commander Nakamura, we need to take you into radiology to see how much damage those 7.62 mm rounds did to your shoulder." Commander Will Kaiser, US Navy Medical Corps, looked over Animal's bare shoulder. "Man, that really tore your shoulder up. How much pain are you in? Stupid question, I know…"

"Hurts like someone jabbed a red-hot poker through my shoulder." Animal winced as the doctor probed the wound.

"You're lucky. It missed the cephalic vein which means you're not out collapsed on the floor due to blood loss." Doctor Kaiser said. "But it's going to hurt like a bitch when I have to clean it out and dress it. Let's get some X-Rays of your shoulder."

USS Nimitz

Battle-Group Commander's Office

"Lieutenant Commander James. You said you wanted to commend Lieutenant Commander Nakamura for his actions on Hill 27?" RADM Pointer asked.

"Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir." Lieutenant Commander James replied as he looked at RADM Pointer then at Captain Forster. "He provided covering fire for our retreat off the hill to the LZ sustaining those wounds from NK forces so that we could extract the downed aviator. I would say without a doubt that his actions fit the standard definition for _conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, above and beyond the call of duty, in the face of overwhelming and life-threatening enemy force_."

"Are we at war with North Korea?" asked Captain Forster. "You do realize that our nation's highest honor can only be awarded in a time of war."

RADM Pointer said. "I think we can recommend him for that – The precedent was Somalia. We weren't in a declared war, but there were hostilities. And I heard that President Clinton condemned the actions of North Korea in shooting down our F-14 and threatened war. I think that it can be safe to say that we could recommend Lieutenant Commander Nakamura for the Medal." He turned to Lieutenant Commander James. "You draw up all the particulars on what Lieutenant Commander Nakamura did and we will sign off on it."

"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Commander James snapped to attention.

A few hours later RADM Pointer got a draft of the award recommendation across his desk.

_At 1930hrs Seal Team 10, Lieutenant Sun Hap Kim (USN), Lieutenant Commander James Willis and Lieutenant Commander Toshio Nakamura engaged North Korean forces while successfully attempting to recover Lieutenant Mitchell Richard who was shot down by an SA-17 Surface to Air Missile. Seal Team 10 and Lieutenant Sun Hap Kim and Lieutenant Mitchell Richard retreated to the SH-60 LZ. Myself, Lieutenant Commander Willis and Lieutenant Commander Nakamura provided covering fire so that Seal Team 10 and Lieutenants Kim and Richard could retreat without incident. _

_Lieutenant Commanders Willis and Nakamura were the last members to retreat from our position atop Hill 27. Lieutenant Commander Nakamura provided heavy concentrated fire from his M4-A1 Carbine directed towards heavy North Korean forces. Sustaining two shoulder injuries from enemy fire, he continued to direct fire upon the North Korean forces at the risk of his own life while providing cover so that Lieutenant Commander Willis and I could reach the LZ. We protested his stand, however he ordered us to retreat knowing full well that it could have resulted in his death. Only then did he retreat from his position as we provided cover fire for his decampment from his position. Lieutenant Commander Toshio Nakamura, a naval aviator, seconded to our SEAL Team for the means of this rescue of a downed aviator demonstrated conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty and reflects the highest traditions of the United States Navy. _

_Signed, Lieutenant Commander Henry Samuel James, United States Navy, _

_Commander Seal Team 10. _

"He ordered them back to the LZ…at the risk of his own life?" Captain Forster asked RADM Pointer.

"Apparently he did. Evidently Lieutenant Commanders Willis and James are the two individuals that we need as witnesses and LCDR James already provided proof in his award recommendation. We just need LCDR Willis to provide his statement and that's final. I'll sign off on this award recommendation to make it official. We'll have it all ready for when JAG decides that they're ready to do the investigation."

USS Nimitz

Onboard Hospital

Animal's left shoulder was heavily bandaged up and Dr. Kaiser insisted that he take some painkillers. Sighing, Animal grumbled to Dr. Kaiser. "So how long do you figure that this is going to keep me off the flight roster."

"Well, a shoulder injury like that…" Dr. Kaiser responded, his mouth tugging into a tight grin. "It all depends on how fast your shoulder heals before you start therapy. You are going to notice some muscle density loss on the left shoulder due to inactivity and it will throb for some time. But I'm sure that there won't be that much loss of mobility. You're a fighter pilot so you need that mobility and it was lucky that the shots were there rather than higher up on your collar bone where we might have had to stick a pin in to immobilize a break."

At that realization, Animal considered himself lucky. "So estimated about how long do you figure before I can start rehabbing?"

"It could be a month to six weeks while your muscles repair the traumatic damage done to them by the bullets going through." Dr. Kaiser replied, "And then a physical therapy program up to three to four months in length. You've pretty much hit the golden bullet, Lieutenant Commander, it looks like you may be going home. You're done for the rest of this deployment."

"I don't know about that, Commander." Animal replied. "I can't see myself leaving this ship until we come home. I can work in operations planning missions if I need to. There are needs that this squadron requires that I can free up another aviator to the flight rotation."

"Stubborn cuss, aren't you?" Dr. Kaiser grinned at him.

"So they tell me…" Animal replied with a smug grin.

Dr. Kaiser lifted his hands up in supplication. "You aviators are all insane. Anyways…Lieutenant Commander, don't stress out the shoulder or you'll set yourself back. Keep it immobile so you don't tug at the stitches. Then I'll see you back in three weeks to see how the healing is coming along on your muscle tears. If you re-tear and open up the stitches, you'll set yourself back even farther and run the risk of doing more damage to your shoulder. Understood?"

"Yes, doctor! Yes, sir!" Animal said. "Type with one hand too?"

"Yes, get out of here!" Dr. Kaiser grinned. "And take some painkillers…or you might be in severe pain in the morning!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

USS Nimitz

Flag Plot

CAG looked over at RADM Pointer. "So…you suggest we also send in a battlefield promotion request to the JCS?"

RADM Pointer looked at him with a calculated smile. "If he's setting up for earning a Medal of Honor, I think we should stick an O-5 on him with approval from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Notice that Rabbit didn't say anything to Nakamura."

"He didn't really get a chance to, since you hustled Nakamura off to the bone yanker quickly." CAPT Forster replied smiling at the recollection.

"He would've passed out from pain otherwise." RADM Pointer retorted with a chuckle. "Stubborn aviator. Once we send this request through, we should hear back from the Joint Chiefs in about 48 hours and then we can frock him."

"Yeah, won't that be a surprise. So what do we do with an extra O-5 around here for the time being?" Captain Forster asked RADM Pointer.

"Well, he can be one of my staff officers for the duration of time that he's off flight rotation and when he's not doing that, he can help out ops. Keep him out of the way of DCAG though Rabbit is heading for a fall. Just so long as Commander Campbell doesn't spray on the way down." RADM Pointer said with a look of disgust.

48hrs Later

JAG Headquarters

"Rabb, Austin, My office…" Rear Admiral Albert Jethro Chegwidden barked as he looked over at two folders sitting on his desk. Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and his partner Lieutenant junior grade Meg Austin looked at each other as they entered the RADM's inner sanctum. "Rabb, Austin, I have an interesting case for you two. Evidently Commander (his frocking was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Toshio Nakamura is nominated for the Medal of Honor as stated here…in this dossier folder that I have…and I quote, as witness from a fellow SEAL no less…Lieutenant Commander Henry S. James, SEAL Team 10 citing and recommending Commander Nakamura for the Medal of Honor " tapping his Budweiser "stating: "_Sustaining two shoulder injuries from enemy fire, he continued to direct fire upon the North Korean forces at the risk of his own life while providing cover so that Lieutenant Commander Willis and I could reach the LZ…_" reading sections of the Medal of Honor award request. "_Lieutenant Commander Toshio Nakamura, a naval aviator, seconded to our SEAL Team for the means of this rescue of a downed aviator demonstrated conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty and reflects the highest traditions of the United States Navy._" Admiral Chegwidden looked up from the folder and affixed Harm and Meg with a look. "Our sailors and airmen are pretty much the cream of the crop when it comes to taking action when necessary. I want to see this expedited…however on the other hand, there is a report from what I feel is a self-serving officer who doesn't give a damn about esprit de corps citing that he wishes to level an Article 89 Disrespect to a Senior Officer charge at the same Commander Toshio Nakamura for sending him a message and I quote. _Mission Accomplished, Package Retrieved, Love and kisses to DCAG._" AJ smirked. "I would have probably sent worse to Commander David Campbell. Officers in that vein piss me off. The fact that Commander Nakamura made that stand on Hill 27 that night and provided covering fire so that the men of SEAL Team 10 and the recovered aviator and 'tag-alongs' on the mission could get back to the SH-60 extraction helo speaks volumes that this Article 89 charge is vindictive, petty and self-serving. But we need it investigated by a team that isn't attached to the Medal of Honor investigation. Bring in Commander Krennick and Commander Ted Lindsey. Lieutenant Commander Rabb, you and Lieutenant Junior Grade Austin will investigate the Medal of Honor nomination. Dismissed."

They both snapped to attention and said. "Aye aye, sir."

Harm looked worried as they exited Admiral Chegwidden's office. "Animal..." he muttered. "What do you get yourself into…" just as Krennick and Lindsey headed for Admiral Chegwidden's office. As they crossed paths, Krennick smiled her she-wolf grin and mock whispered to Harm as he passed.

"Call me, Commander."

Meg rolled her eyes.

"So…tell me more about this Commander Nakamura." Meg said once they reached the safety of Harm's office.

"He was my squadron mate in East Coast RAG…he had a month on me in terms of rank, but now that he's nominated for the Medal of Honor, he's been deep-selected for Commander. He's a dedicated officer and I worry that Commander Krennick and Commander Lindsey are going to take Commander Campbell's side on this."

"Well, it'll all come out in the end." Meg said.

"But it's the appearance of impropriety." Harm said. "The Medal of Honor committee doesn't like even the appearance of impropriety. The recipients are held to a cut above the rest of us servicemen and women. Even the slightest hint of an Article 89 would be enough to crush Animal's chances and judging from the award citation, if there wasn't the Article 89 from Commander Campbell, which the admiral thinks is frivolous and he's planning to throw it out with the trash, Animal would be a slam-dunk for the Medal."

"So Lindsey and Krennick have to stymie Commander Campbell's attempts to sabotage Commander Nakamura's nomination for the Medal?" Meg asked, her brows furrowing as she concentrated on their task at hand. "So when do we have to get on the plane for Seoul?"

"Less than five hours." Harm said as he started jamming uniforms into a bag. "You'd better grab your uniforms into a bag too."

"Yes, sir."

USS Nimitz

Flag Plot.

"Lieutenant Commander Nakamura…" RADM Pointer grinned at him. "You appear to be out of uniform… Lieutenant Commander."

"Excuse me? Sir? This Lieutenant Commander doesn't understand."

"You're also pronouncing your rank wrong." Captain "Tree" Forster grinned.

"I believe it's pronounced Loo-tenant Commander in our United States Navy not Left-tenant Commander, is it not, Captain?" Animal was even more confused at the moment.

"The Captain is having trouble saying that your rank is one word too long." RADM Pointer stated succinctly as Animal looked deflated.

"Oh, geez, I had hoped that my missive to Commander Campbell didn't result in my being demoted to Lieutenant." Animal winced.

"No…wrong word…" Tree grinned enjoying prolonging Animal's agony.

RADM Pointer grinned stating. "The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended a battlefield deep-selection promotion to you. You're now an O-5…a Commander. Congratulations." Producing two USN silver oak leaves, RADM Pointer and Captain Forster stepped to opposite sides of Animal's torso. Taking the lapels of his khakis, each removed the gold pins of a lieutenant commander and placed them in Animal's hand. Taking the two silver oak leaves and affixing them to Animal's khakis, they stepped back and perused their handiwork.

"No, despite the fact that normally a wife or girlfriend is there to provide a kiss for you, we will not substitute." Tree grinned. "Commander."

"Oh…thank God!" Animal exhorted in mock-relief. "sir."

"Now, raise your right hand and take the commissioning oath…" RADM Pointer stated. After repeating the commissioning oath as recited by Captain Forster, Animal shook both Captain Forster's and RADM Pointer's hands.

"Thank you, sir."

"Congratulations, Commander. Welcome to the senior officers ranks. You can get your new uniforms at the PX."

5 Days Later

USS Nimitz

Flag Plot

"Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb & Lieutenant jr. grade Meg Austin reporting, sir. Judge Advocate General. – Medal of Honor investigation, sir." Just then two commanders stepped in, each wearing JAG insignia and commander silver oak leaves on their collars. Commanders Krennick and Lindsey.

"We're here from JAG also." Commander Krennick stated. "Sir. We have a Article 89 Disrespect to a senior officer by then Lieutenant Commander Nakamura. A Commander David Campbell filed the paperwork for the Article 89."

"Why that slimy little son-of-a bitch…" uttered RADM Pointer. "You do know that it's a frivolous charge, Commander?" Commander Krennick looked over at Commander Ted Lindsey who looked completely unsure of himself. "That slimy worm would sell out his own mother if it advanced his disgusting reputation."

"yes, sir." Commander Lindsey had now found his voice. "We'll record your objection as stated and keep that in mind when we do our investigation."

RADM Pointer looked at Commander Lindsey stepping very closely to the commander and raising both eyebrows in a threatening countenance. "Why do I get the feeling, Commander…that you seem to be of the same ilk as Commander David Campbell?"

Commander Lindsey gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "I have no idea, sir. We'll try to investigate as impartially as possible."

RADM Pointer said malevolently. "See that you do, Commander. Or I will be on your ass like stink on shit. I like you two…" he pointed out LCDR Rabb and Lt JG Austin. But then whirling to level his baleful gaze on the two O-5s "But you two screw up just this much, I'll put you two commanders as cargo on a barge carrying dog crap out of Kosong! Do you understand me?" Krennick bristled silently as she wasn't too happy at being dressed down in front of junior officers. But she couldn't make an objection since it was a 2 star flag-officer berating her and Commander Lindsey.

"Yes, sir! Aye, sir!"


End file.
